Terry, thank you too for your very good advices. It is nice to get help from members who have already gained experience with this type of work. That gives me a good feeling of comrades among each other and I see clearly the usefulness of this forum to participate in it and to help each other where possible. Thanks. 

Best regards, Jan O.

Jan... It is so nice that we can help each other at times.....we all have different experiences, so very nice to share what we have learned over the years. A very nice benefit of,joining this group for sure!
Best regards, Terry

I succeeded to get all versions of the 153a Jeep together, with the exception of the 4th version (without painting ring - with raised ejector marks). I stay looking for this version but  I want to show you now already my gathered fleet of Jeeps.

I am very happy with all my versions of this Jeep in sequence versions in a row in my display case now. It's very funny to see the growing subtle differences in order of all these Jeeps from the 1st to the 6th version. The first version starts with a flat bonnet and with each subsequent version the bonnet is always slightly raised and the front edge of the bonnet is getting slightly thicker. Look at the enlarged pictures to see these subtle differences.

This Jeep played his own important role in WWII and also transported generals and presidents (see pictures). WWII could be ended and Meccano Liverpool could start up again his factory. Perhaps Meccano Liverpool decided to produce this model as first, as a symbol of victory by the allied forces and to use it as a promotional and export model to the USA and Canada. Rightly that Keith Harvie his first magazine of Binns Road Gazette started with this model.

Note: It’s a pity that they never produced the well-known Sherman tank, that played a very important role in WWII.

Jan Oldenhuis, 16 April 2018.

Very nice to have such an (almost) complete collection of variants of one model, Jan. It seems that you have a certain preference for collecting as many as possible variants of one favourite model rather than trying to complete a whole range or category of Dinky models. Or am I wrong? That's a nice approach too, instead of painstakingly trying to complete all Dinky models (possibly of a limited period), of which some may almost be 'unattainable'. I have only one favourite model of which I try to gather all variants: the no. 555/955 Fire Engine with Extending Ladder (twelve present at the moment, including box variants). Good luck finding the final Jeep omission! Kind regards, Jan W

Jan, you noticed that very well. Indeed, I do not intend to collect the total width of models. I have to limit. I have 10 glass shelves at my disposal in the display cabinet in my living room and that's what I have to do with it. I limit myself to models that I like myself (especially 50's), but I try to collect as complete as possible a picture of the postwar production of DT models till the 60's.

For practical reasons I do not collect airplanes, boats and military models, with the exception of the 153a Jeep, as the first new model after the war with its very interesting facts. The many dark green military models would make my display case very dark and just I try to bring as many different colors as possible into my collection. In addition, there are models whose casting variations are so interesting that I try to collect a complete series, such as the extremely interesting 521 Bedford Articulated Lorry and the 965 Euclid and Terex Rear Dump Truck. But there are more models that I personally like to have complete. I do have a limited collection, but I have many beautiful and interesting models to show. Of several models I can show the whole story completely and that gives a lot of satisfaction.

Note: Not all model variations of the 521 are in my display case and there is still another Euclid variation on its way to me that I will show lateron.

Kind regards, Jan O.

Wonderful to see these many variations, Jan! As an extra my 555/955's below. The visipac still wanting (sorry for getting too much off topic here). Kind regards, Jan W

Recently I found a variant of the 1st issue of the 153a Jeep that is not described by Keith Harvie in his Binns Road Gazette. The 1st version 1946 (without painting ring) has smooth hubs and a solid steering wheel, but I also found one with smooth hubs and open steering wheel. According to Keith Harvie the 1st version was produced for about a year. After examination I concluded that this one is 100% original (no replacements or repaint found), so I got a nice find.

My 1st version with white tires have I cleaned now according received instructions and I now have 4 different 1st versions with smooth hubs: 3 with solid and 1 with open steering wheel; with white smooth, black fine tread and black smooth tires. Of the final 153a-672 USA export version (1952-1955) I now also have both axle versions: with rounded and with crimped axles and I now have a total of 9 variants. At the end I add a picture of my Jeep collection as a tribute to the Binns Road Dinky Toys factory.

Jan Oldenhuis, 19 June 2018.

Jan,

A great collection of Jeeps! Your latest one is shown in Jacques Dujardins Encyclopedia of Dinky Toys CD. I hope in time that I can acquire some more variations - at the moment I only have 5 different versions.

Thank you Chris1. I also have Jacques CD, but I had not noticed it. Maybe Jacques also responds about that. Many thanks for your addition.

Kind regards, Jan O.

A nice and surprising addition to your Jeeps army, Jan. I presume the smooth hubs version lasted even shorter than one year, as we see the ridged hubs (and open steering wheel) showing up in October 1946 already (no. 38f Jaguar, followed by no. 38e Armstrong Siddeley). It would be nice to find a hybrid smooth hubbed Frazer Nash, Sunbeam Talbot, Alvis and/or Lagonda with the same open steering wheel too. Kind regards, Jan W

Jan, thank you very much for your valued addition. There is something strange going on with the smooths hubs and solid steering wheel. As far as I know, only the Jeep and Lagonda were produced from the beginning with smooth hubs and solid steering wheel. Announced in MM from April 1946 and according to MM available from September 1946. The other models such as 38f Jaguar, 38e Armstrong Siddeley and 40a Riley Saloon were added later and were in MM clearly depicted with ridged hubs. Apparently it was decided that only the Jeep and the Lagonda were fitted with smooth hubs and solid steering wheel (still stock from the war ??) until the stock was up. On the images in MM, the Jeep is shown up to and including May 1948 with smooth hubs, solid steering wheel and white ribbed tires. How can we explain this? Was there an exception made for the Jeep? Was it a mistake in the images in MM? Is there any information to find about this in the 153a Jeep Meccano drawings or elsewhere? I can not read these drawings properly.

Kind regards, Jan O, 22 June 2018.

Hello Jan, taking into consideration that the smooth hubs Jeep and Lagonda examples are relatively scarce, and that from October 1946 on all new introductions had ridged hubs, I think we may safely assume that the factory ran out of the old smooth hubs in the second half of 1946 - despite the MM and catalogues images seem to suggest the contrary. The initial image printing blocks, even for prewar items, were in use for a long time after introduction of the ridged hubs (see the 1952 US catalogue page attached, showing the Streamlined Fire Engine in pre-war guise and the Tipping Wagon even in its mid-1930s 1 type looks, and of course the Jeep itself with smooth hubs). Kind regards, Jan 

Jan, thank you very much for the valuable answer to my question. It is always interesting to be able to explain such things. Thanks. Kind regards, Jan O.

To complete my DT Jeeps series of 6 different versions, I was still looking for the 4th version with extended/raised ejector marks at the front under the front axles. This was described by Keith Harvie in his Binns Road Gazette number 1 of January / February 1999. Unfortunately, only of this version, he did not post a picture in his Gazette and it was not easy for me to find such a version. But ... I have found one, albeit with less raised ejector marks than my 5th version, which I show here. Now I have all 6 versions and a total of 10 Jeeps.

Kind regards, Jan Oldenhuis, 6 August 2018.

Hello Jan,

Nice find. You also may have seen that the Jeep has no painting hole. So a early one in production.

John.

This is the first published picture of the 153a Jeep in Meccano Dinky Toys leaflet UK March 1946. Photo by courtesy of Bruce Hoy DTCA.

Jan Oldenhuis 31 August 2021